A former soldier faces a murder charge for killing Daesh jihadis alongside Kurdish forces in Syria last year.

The 47-year-old Dutch man was detained on Wednesday in the eastern city of Arnhem and made a first appearance at a Rotterdam court on Friday.

‘The man is a former soldier whose case was extensively reported on last year in the media and on Facebook due to his involvement in the fight against the Islamic State,’ the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

‘Dutch law – apart from in exceptional circumstances like self-defence – does not give citizens the right to use force, and particularly not deadly force.

‘Killing an IS fighter therefore could mean being prosecuted for murder.’

City of Arnhem, where the man was arrested (Picture: Alamy)

The man has not been formally identified, but local media is naming him as Jitse Akse – a Dutch citizen who left for Syria in early 2015. He is alleged to have fought with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).